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Lee, Wandy honored for '11 campaigns

Lee, Wandy honored for '11 campaigns

9/22/11: Carlos Lee gives the Astros a 4-2 lead with a bases-clearing double off the wall in center in the bottom of the third

By Brian McTaggart
/
MLB.com |

HOUSTON -- Astros first baseman Carlos Lee, who led the club in home runs and RBIs last season, was named the team's Player of the Year, and left-hander Wandy Rodriguez was named Pitcher of the Year.

As selected by MLB.com, awards have been designated in three categories -- Pitcher, Perfomer and Breakout Player -- for each of the 30 teams.

While the Astros trotted out 20 rookies during their 2011 campaign, it was 27-year-old Matt Downs who was named the team's Breakout Player of the Year after emerging as one of the league's top pinch-hitters and a legitimate home-run threat.

Lee, who has one year remaining on his six-year, $100 million contract, hit .275 with 18 homers and 94 RBIs. He started the season in left field and wound up moving to first base, where he made a career-high 70 starts at the position.

Lee was tied for fourth in the National League with a club-best 38 doubles. He hit .336 with seven homers and 26 RBIs in the final 36 games of the season and batted .285 with 11 homers and 46 RBIs after the All-Star break.

Rodriguez, the longest current tenured player on the Astros, went 11-11 with a 3.49 ERA in 30 starts last season, reaching double-digit wins for the fourth time in his career. He's one of only seven pitchers in franchise history to win at least nine games in each of his seven Major League seasons.

Last season, Rodriguez became the franchise's all-time leader in strikeouts by a left-hander.

Downs averaged one home run every 19.9 at-bats, hitting .275 with 10 homers and 41 RBIs in part-time duty. He was a force off the bench, leading the Major Leagues with 15 pinch-hit RBIs and setting the Astros' record for most pinch-hit RBIs by a right-handed hitter.

Downs, who started 35 games at five different positions, also led the Majors with a .462 on-base percentage as a pinch-hitter and was tied for first in the league with three pinch-hit home runs, including a ninth-inning homer to beat the Rangers in Arlington on June 22. He hit .362 with runners in scoring position.